Key Takeaways
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has captured Western Mosul and areas of Eastern Mosul, including key military facilities, as of noon June 10, 2014 EDT.
ISIS is currently seizing military equipment, ammunition, and millions of dollars of cash in areas as it advances. Much of this materiel is US-provided.
ISIS is maneuvering forces on an offensive from Mosul oriented south on the Mosul-Baghdad highway. The ISIS northern campaign extends to Kirkuk and Salah ad-Din, the provinces bordering Ninewa in which Mosul is located.
ISIS is a military organization conducting an insurgency against the government of Iraq. It is no longer merely a terrorist organization. It is a conventional military force that holds terrain and claims to govern some of it.
The Mosul campaign was well planned and required years to set conditions. ISIS had threatened Mosul with systemic attacks since 2012. ISIS has conducted a campaign to assassinate and remove local authorities from Mosul since October 2013. The operations allowed it to cut off media from the city, limit the Iraqi Security Forces’ activities there, and gain freedom of movement within it.
This slideshow illustrates how ISIS laid the groundwork for the seizure of Mosul, its areas of control on the morning of June 10, 2014 EDT, its assessments of its own attacks, and its aspirations to govern a state in Iraq and Syria.